Monday, May 24, 2010

44 Hour Pizza Dough (30 Minutes From Fridge To Plate)

I love homemade pizza (see exhibits A, B, C, and D), but it can be hard to find time to let the dough rise between assembly and baking. So, a recent New York Times article about allowing pizza dough to rest for 24 to 48 hours before baking appealed to me in terms of efficiency, rather than improved taste or texture.

I mixed up my dough on a Thursday evening (using my standard recipe from Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian), and then placed it in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. On Saturday afternoon, I came home, peeked into the fridge, and saw that the dough had risen nicely. The pizza was in the oven about 20 minutes later. Ten minutes after that, I was marveling at how much better a pizza crust that's rested for a couple of days really is. And not just because I was pleased to be eating a freshly-baked homemade pizza about a half-hour after I walked in the door (although that was nice, too).

The flavor and texture of the crust were lighter, even though it was the same recipe that I normally use. (The NYT used the word "nuanced" to describe the change in flavor, which sounds silly when applied to pizza crust but is, I think, accurate). The only downside is that I ate much more pizza than I normally would, because I kept wanting to "confirm" the difference.

8 comments:

sweetlife said...

great idea, I usually make pizza they day we plan on eating it and wow sometimes, you just don't have the energy to do anything..I am definatley goin to give this a shot..

sweetlife

Vegan Epicurean said...

Beatrice,

The long rise pizza dough is an old Italian trick (per this old Italian). I have made it a few times and you are right about the texture. I am envious that you have enough room in your frig for the bowl. Mine is stuffed with veggies front to back top to bottom. ;-)

Your pizza looks beautiful!

Alicia

Monet said...

I agree...this is a great idea. With just a bit of planning, you can have an easy and outstanding meal on your table. My husband and I are leaving for NYC, and we're excited to taste some of the pizza there

Alicia Foodycat said...

The recipe I use rises long & slow in the fridge too. So much flavour and a great texture! I also like that it freezes!

Dana said...

I took a pizza making class recently and they used dough that had rested 24 hours. The two teachers did a lot of testing to come up with the right recipe and they were 100% sold on the fact that it had to rest. I can't wait to make some. Great job on yours!

Lindsay said...

GREAT idea! I am definitely going to have to try this!!!

Unknown said...

pizza is one of those things that i miss TERRIBLY. i always go for the pizza when i find a vegan cafe or something.

Beatrice said...

Hi, Nicole. Mark Bittman's pizza dough recipe (from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian) doesn't include any eggs or dairy -- just flour, olive oil, salt, and yeast. I think it is pretty easy to put together homemade vegan pizza toppings -- I've made my own cashew cheese for pizza -- or you can go with a store-bought vegan cheese.